How long can it take to establish a strong bond

My girls have been together for 16 days now and there still hasn't been any fighting that we are aware of, but I don't think they are properly bonded yet. They are grooming still, and seem relaxed and comfortable around each other. But there has deffo still been some chasing, I think on Friday I found a tiny bit of Scarlett's fur on the floor

We have been leaving them alone for the past week because we both work full time and have run out of holiday to take, we have been coming home at different times on our lunches to check on them, but I'm finding it hard to figure out exactly how much chasing is going on and feel like I can't work out if it's going well or badly! At night I will wake up to a load of noise and go running in to find one of them just dragging a litter tray across the room :roll: or they have stopped whatever they were doing by the time I've opened their bedroom door :lol: there hasn't been a sound out of them today, but it's just one day so I'm thinking what if they are non stop chasing each other every other day of the week and were just tired today

I don't know how long it can take? I'm stressing because I go away soon and ideally I want to feel confident that they are full on bonded before I leave! My fiancé will be looking after them while I'm away but he isn't 100% confident with the whole bonding thing

What sort of size space are they in? Normally, if they were still doing some humping/chasing after 16 days I'd be inclined to reduce the space back down again and try and get it fully established in a smaller space, as the use of a larger space will probably slow down the bond (simply because they can find ways to keep apart from each other!) But as you're going away soon, there's a part of me that thinks you might be better to just leave as is...I'd have thought if it was going to go disastrously wrong it would have done it by now, so although it might take longer to establish fully, it might also be safer rather than tinker with what they have got used to. I would normally expect a pretty strong bond after 2-3 weeks of being together full time, although to be honest it really is 'how long is a piece of string'.

Good luck with them, and good luck with the trip!!

I think it's so different for everyone depending on the individual personalities of the buns...

When we first bonded Charlie & Oscar she was terrified of him for around 3 days (he was a big soft lump and just wanted to play) after a few days she went from terrified to just uncomfortable with him, this persisted for weeks despite them both being very gentle, we decided to give them separate beds lined up close and they were free range in the evenings, for a long while she tolerated his presence but would not exchange affection, when they finally seemed comfortable together we took one bed away meaning they shared a large cage during the day and over night, although they were ok together she stopped eating so we separated their beds again. A few months later after further gentle bonding at her pace she finally started grooming him and letting him groom her, at a guess I would say it took around 6 months for them to establish a good bond and by around a year they began to form a strong and inseparable bond. I think Oscar would bond easily with anyone but our little Charlie was a sensitive girl...

Jem_John said:

I think it's so different for everyone depending on the individual personalities of the buns...

When we first bonded Charlie & Oscar she was terrified of him for around 3 days (he was a big soft lump and just wanted to play) after a few days she went from terrified to just uncomfortable with him, this persisted for weeks despite them both being very gentle, we decided to give them separate beds lined up close and they were free range in the evenings, for a long while she tolerated his presence but would not exchange affection, when they finally seemed comfortable together we took one bed away meaning they shared a large cage during the day and over night, although they were ok together she stopped eating so we separated their beds again. A few months later after further gentle bonding at her pace she finally started grooming him and letting him groom her, at a guess I would say it took around 6 months for them to establish a good bond and by around a year they began to form a strong and inseparable bond. I think Oscar would bond easily with anyone but our little Charlie was a sensitive girl...

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Bless her. She looks sensitive.

Thanks guys :wave: Things have been looking really positive the last couple of days, they are spending most of their time cuddled up so hopefully they are best mates now and I can stop worrying :lol:

Santa said:

What sort of size space are they in? Normally, if they were still doing some humping/chasing after 16 days I'd be inclined to reduce the space back down again and try and get it fully established in a smaller space, as the use of a larger space will probably slow down the bond (simply because they can find ways to keep apart from each other!) But as you're going away soon, there's a part of me that thinks you might be better to just leave as is...I'd have thought if it was going to go disastrously wrong it would have done it by now, so although it might take longer to establish fully, it might also be safer rather than tinker with what they have got used to. I would normally expect a pretty strong bond after 2-3 weeks of being together full time, although to be honest it really is 'how long is a piece of string'.

Good luck with them, and good luck with the trip!!

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I know that its the space thing thats the problem. They are free ranging in the spare bedroom and have too much room for bonding really. We tried using the bathroom but its too small with us using it too, and they were both really frightened of the noise the shower makes. Then we tried a puppy pen in their bedroom but Binky was lifting the whole thing up at the bottom and trying to move it, so I didn't feel comfortable leaving them unattended incase she hurt herself. The shelter had problems with her trying to break out of enclosures so I've been reluctant to limit their space in their bedroom :lol:

Thanks hun :wave: